In-line skates have become very popular as recreational and sports equipment during the past decade. Millions of in-line skates have been sold. In-line skates are usually equipped on the underside of a boot with four, or occasionally five, wheels which are in forward serial alignment with one another. The in-line skate is also usually equipped with a brake pad at the rear of the row of in-line wheels on one of the skates.
In-line skates typically have bearing mounted wheels which are made for easy rolling over the ground. As a consequence, because there is very little friction inhibiting forward or rearward movement it is often difficult for a skater to stand still on a pair of in-line skates, or stop from rolling forward on an incline, or climb stairs and hills without difficulty. Usually the skater must hold onto a stationary object, such as a hand rail, while climbing stairs, or a tree or post or some other stationary object while on an incline, in order to prevent the in-line skates from rolling forward or backward.
There has been a continuing longstanding need for an easy to use device which will prevent the wheels of an in-line skate from rotating when the skater does not want the wheels to rotate, such as when the skater wants to walk or climb. U.S. Pat. No. 5,236,224, Anderson et al., discloses a removable wheel cover for an in-line type skate. The cover includes a front boot designed to inwardly receive the skate's front wheel. The cover also includes a rear boot designed to inwardly receive the skate's rear wheel. A pair of flexible, resilient straps connect the two boots of the cover together. When not in use, the cover can be folded into a small volume and easily stored within a user's pocket.
A serious problem with the Anderson et al. removable wheel cover is that although the front boot portion 20 fits over a front wheel of an in-line skate, and the rear boot portion 22 fits over a rear wheel of the skate, there is nothing which prevents the skater from "skating out of" the removable wheel cover. The front boot portion of the Anderson et al. removable wheel cover is formed of flexible resilient straps. Thus the wheels can easily roll out of the guard when the skater places the skate and guard on the ground. The toe 14 of the front boot 20 of the in-line skate is not prevented from rolling forward out of the resilient removable wheel cover. There is also no mechanism in the Anderson et al. guard which prevents the middle wheels from rolling forward, and hence preventing the skater from skating out of the resilient removable wheel cover.